I met author, Jamie Heppner while doing the IndieGoGo Indies Unite for Joshua campaign. He was extremely generous in helping spread the word of the fundraiser, and we exceeded our $10K goal.

I’m happy to offer some space to spread the word of Jamie’s writing. Have a read, and find out more about this man with a witty sense of humor.

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In Jamie’s own words …

I always had an interest in writing. Even since grade school. However, I never really gave it a lot of thought. In the very early spring of 07, I sat down at my computer one day, and decided to put some thoughts to screen. A few hours later, and after some pestering from my wife, I had the beginnings of chapter 1 of my ongoing book …

Inside Jamie Heppner’s Mind

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Tough one right out of the gates! Okay, I would have to say that my idea of perfect happiness would be a situation. I think I would find living in a small cabin setting, in the woods, with my family, far away from the modern hubbub of civilization. A place where we didn’t need to be afraid to let the kids play outside, or be surrounded by honking horns and cars driving too fast. Of course, you would have to make sure I can at still get a good wifi signal.

What turns you on creatively? Anything different. If at the end of a book I can put it down physically, but my mind keeps going back to those last pages. That is a great way to get inside my mind.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse? I do my best to NOT do that anymore. I have had certain words taken away from me by my beta readers. I will attempt to type them out here, but odds are my beta’s will still make me erase them again. The worst one for me is —-, I have an unhealthy need to constantly type that word out. Damnit, I told you they would take that word.

What quality do you most admire in a man? The ability to stand up for what they believe in. The ability to admit when they are wrong, and the strength to fix their mistakes.

What quality do you most admire in a woman? Breasts Err, wait, you all expect that kind of answer from a man. I once told a co-worker that I could find something nice to say about any woman in the world. I admire the women out there that make it easy for me to be right about my prior statement.

What is your greatest regret? Not starting to write sooner. I am pushing 40 now, and to think of all the time I wasted with no purpose, when I could have been writing, it fills me with regret. Even if my words fall into the deepest darkest corner of the internet, and no one reads them. It made me happy to write them. (Of course I love it when people read and enjoy them too.)

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? This is a hard one to crack a joke about…I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis two weeks before my daughter was born. If I could change anything, I would not have MS anymore. I’ve been lucky as far as symptoms go, but as Mark Twain once said: Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most.

What is your greatest fear? After I hit the submit button, I fear getting a bad review. Of course there are so many other things to fear that should be higher on the list. I fear not being a good enough father for my kids, not being able to provide for them, spending too much time at work, and then writing that they’ve come to hate me for it. My list of fears could fill the internet!

Which living person do you most admire? Have to pick two here. Brandon Sanderson would be the first. That guy can tell a story! What he has done with the Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordon passed is just incredible. Writing three GIGANTIC books in someone else’s world, without completely changing the characters to fit your style is an amazing example of writing talent.
Second person would be Will Wheaton. Yep, I stalk follow him on twitter and his down to earth sense of humor, his respect for his wife and family, everything I have seen him talk about, just makes me like the guy.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? I am currently trapped in a sales job. I would love to attempt a career in writing. Oh wait…

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Finding my wife, and tricking convincing her to spend the rest of her life with me. Everything from that point on has gotten better and better.

What is the trait you most deplore in others? I try my best to keep positive as far as other people are concerned. Humanity seems to be sinking faster than in days of old. However, the pet peeve that gets me the most would be lies. The people who can lie to you, right in the face, and pretend that what they are saying is the honest truth. That gets my hackles up.

What is your greatest extravagance? I had an argument at work about whether or not I could retire, right now, with only 1 million dollars. I did the math, and it would be a piece of cake. My family exists on a single income and even though we aren’t rich by any means we have everything we need. Of course there are things we wouldn’t mind having, but can’t afford, yet we don’t need em. My latest extravagance would be the new laptop my wife got me for my birthday. Pretty sad eh?

What is one thing you want to do before you die? Skydiving, and get a tattoo of machinery on my right arm. Sorry that’s two, but I really want them both. I have better odds on the skydiving though. My wife is dead set against the tattoo…

What is your favorite music (genre/artist/album/song)? U2: The Joshua Tree. That CD always spoke to me, even today it is prominent on almost every one of my play lists. If I need to escape and just listen to music, this is my first choice every time.

What are some of your favorite curse words? I don’t actually curse, much, ever, almost. I have dipped into the sailor tongue on occasion, yet I do my best to keep it clean. My characters though, they have potty mouths.

What is your motto? Up until a few weeks ago, I really didn’t have one. However, one night this popped into my head.
“The power to create a world, solely from the words written by your own mind, is a gift that should never be hidden.”

Thank you Jamie for some excellent responses, and I wish you much success with your writing. I invite everyone to leave this sweet man a comment and connect to him.